In the nearly two years since the execution of Crips founder turned Nobel Peace Prize nominee Stanley “Tookie” Williams, the lethal-injection procedure that took his life has been declared unconstitutional by a U.S. district court, and the executions of California’s 667 condemned men and women have been temporarily stayed in the ensuing legal morass. As the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation struggles to find a less “cruel and unusual” procedure to kill its inmates, Barbara Becnel, journalist, activist and co-author of Tookie’s memoir, Blue Rage, Black Redemption, comes to Hollywood United Methodist Church to discuss Tookie and the current issues surrounding the death penalty. The event, hosted by former M*A*S*H actor and Death Penalty Focus president Mike Farrell, bills itself as a “town-hall-style debate,” although exactly what sources of contention might arise remains to be seen — alongside the like-minded Farrell, Becnel will be joined by superactivist and former California Assemblyman Tom Hayden. Debate or discussion, few California issues are more intriguing — or important — right now. Hollywood United Methodist Church, 6817 Franklin Ave., Hlywd.; Wed., Nov. 14, 7:30-9 p.m.; $20. www.hollywoodumc.org.

—Matthew Fleischer

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